Following the vote which took place last week at our February General Meeting, the Women's Caucus has sent the following press release:
[MARCH 1, 2021, PROVIDENCE, RI] - The Rhode Island Democratic Women’s Caucus voted unanimously at its February 25, 2021 meeting to ask Senator Cynthia Coyne, Chair of the RI Senate Judiciary Committee, to exercise her unilateral power to send S.0267 from her committee to the Senate Health and Human Services (HHS) Committee. S0267 would “provide for abortion coverage in the Medicaid program and repeal the abortion coverage exclusion for state employee insurance plans.” The Women's Caucus firmly believes that:
the HHS Committee and not the Judiciary committee is the one that routinely deals with bills involving health care and Medicaid, and abortion is health care and should be treated as such;
the Judiciary Committee consists of a majority of members who are anti-choice and will not pass the bill to the entire Senate for a vote;
the HHS Committee has a majority of pro-choice members who would pass the bill for a floor vote; and
S. 0267 currently has 21 sponsors in the Senate - enough to pass the bill.
As a Democratic Senator who is charged with upholding the Democratic Party platform, we implore Senator Coyne to take immediate measures to protect her constituents' access to safe and legal abortion services. We encourage Senator Coyne to exercise her power as Chair of the Judiciary Committee to transfer S. 0267 from Judiciary to the HHS Committee. Letter sent to Senator Cynthia Coyne by email at sen-coyne@rilegislature.gov Dear Senator Coyne: I am writing on behalf of the Rhode Island Democratic Women’s Caucus to ask you, as chair of the RI Senate Judiciary Committee, to exercise your unilateral power to send S.0267 from your committee to the Senate Health and Human Services (HHS) Committee. S0267 would “provide for abortion coverage in the Medicaid program and repeal the abortion coverage exclusion for state employee insurance plans.” We believe that:
the HHS Committee and not the Judiciary committee is the one that routinely deals with bills involving health care and Medicaid, and abortion is health care and should be treated as such;
the Judiciary Committee consists of a majority of members who are anti-choice and will not pass the bill to the entire Senate for a vote;
the HHS Committee has a majority of pro-choice members who would pass the bill for a floor vote; and
S. 0267 currently has 21 sponsors in the Senate - enough to pass the bill.
We believe all elected officials who are registered Democrats have a duty to uphold the tenets of the Democratic Party platform, and as such, take measures to provide access to safe and legal abortion to all constituents. As an endorsed Democratic Senator, we hope that you will exercise your power as Chair of the Judiciary Committee to transfer S. 0267 from Judiciary to the HHS Committee. If you wish to discuss this matter, please do not hesitate to contact me at: ridwomenscaucus@gmail.com or (401) 284-7439. Thank you for your time and consideration. Yours truly, Liz Gledhill, Chair RI Democratic Women’s Caucus
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